1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side safety barrier device to protect occupants of a vehicle during a vehicle crash.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Safety devices to protect vehicle occupants in the event of side impact or oblique impact are well known in the art. Upon detection of such impacts by sensors, such safety devices are usually deployed from the door panel assembly, the headliner or a side portion a seat.
WO 96/26087 teaches a side impact safety device comprising an inflatable bladder initially stored in a door frame recess and a gas generator to inflate the inflatable bladder such that the inflatable element is inflated to extend between the head of a person sitting in the motor vehicle and a door or window.
WO 95/12504 teaches a side impact safety device comprising a cable with a fabric secured thereto anchored in the region of the roof and taken from there to a central pillar and a tension device arranged in the lower region of the central pillar to take the cable into a position at a distance from the roof and the side paneling and secure a fabric to retain the head of a passenger.
WO 94/19215 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,322 relate to a side impact safety device comprising (a) an inflatable bladder mounted along the periphery of a vehicle's side pillars and roof rail and (b) a gas generator. In the event of a crash a taut, semi-rigid structural member is deployed across a portion of the vehicle's side window.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,308 describes a side impact safety device including a membrane-like shock absorbing member stored along a roof rail. A movable pin is mounted at a lower end of the shock absorbing member and is connected through a wire to an unfolding device. A gas generator and a cylinder with a piston slidably received therein is coupled to the wire such that the gas generator forces the piston in the cylinder downwardly to deploy the shock absorbing member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,241 teaches an airbag deployment system with sensors, a warning light and a warning sleeve on the steering wheel to discourage the driver from remaining in a position involving an increased risk of injury and an automatic bag release means to release the airbag and free the passenger when the collision is over.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,177 teaches a side impact safety device including a cushion with a hollow flexible skin having an inner wall secured to an inner panel and flexible walls between the skin and the inner wall. Some of the walls have an orifice formed therein to prevent the skin from bulging such that air contained in the cushion is adaptable to flow through inner wall orifice(s) prior to discharge through a side wall orifice when subjected to impact by the vehicle occupant in the event of a side impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,342 describes a side impact safety device including at least one airbag mounted in a vehicle seat and a sensor for initiating inflation of the airbag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,899 teaches a side impact safety device including at least one airbag positioned above the lintel and at least one airbag positioned below the sill of a side window such that upon activation the facing surface areas of the airbag will be engaged to form a limitedly fixed transverse connection during the initial phase of a crash.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,336 relates to an airbag stored in a folded state in a space in a door or an arm rest laterally of a passenger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,263 teaches an airbag for protecting a vehicle occupant from injuries due to hard parts of a vertically adjustable articulation structure for a safety harness.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,244 discloses a safety device including a sheet material that can move up and down adjacent the inner surface of the windshield in conjunction with a slider adapted to move up and down along a guide rail associated with the pillar wherein the slider is connected by a tension wire to a pull-down mechanism activated upon a frontal impact of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,672 relates to a safety device for an occupant seat including a net stored in a headliner above and forward of the front seat secured to cables trained along the inside of the vehicle to a pair of pistons in barrels that are located beneath the vehicle.
A common shortcoming in the prior art is the inconvenient positioning of the barriers when stored and the inability to maintain the barriers in the desired position. Further, much of the prior art fails to sufficiently anchor the safety barrier to secure the passenger within the vehicle and absorb the force of an act. Additionally, many such barriers are not suitably stored prior to deployment. Thus, there is a real need for an improvement in side impact safety assemblies. The present invention addresses these deficiencies in the prior art; while, providing for new features not available previously.